From Omaha to the Caumont Gap: The 1st Infantry Division in June 1944
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- From Omaha to the Caumont Gap: The 1st Infantry Division in June 1944
With Gregory Fontenot
Part of our DDay and Battle of Normandy series
• DDay and the Battle of...
Also part of our 80th Anniversary Series
• 80th Anniversary Special
The U.S. 1st Infantry Division (1st ID), familiarly known as the Big Red One, adapted to dynamic battlefield conditions throughout the course of its deployment during World War II by innovating and altering behavior, including tactics, techniques, and procedures. Both the Division's leaders and soldiers accomplished this by thinking critically about their experiences in combat and wasting little time in putting lessons learned to good use. Simply put, they learned on the job--in battle and after battle--and did so quickly. In today's show, we look at the planning for Omaha Beach and the ensuing battle including the Caumont Gap and on to Operation Cobra.
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Gregory Fontenot is a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army. He is currently a consultant on threat emulation for Army experimentation and a working historian. He was lead author of On Point: The US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom published by CGSC Press and is the author of The 1st Infantry Division and the US Army Transformed: Road to Victory in Desert Storm, 1970-1991, winner of the 2017 Army Historical Foundation award for Unit History, as well as Loss and Redemption at St. Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge.
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As a former NCO in the US Army I was very impressed with Retired Colonel Gary Fontenot's presentation. I think he struck a chord with his emphasis on the US Corps leadership. The American experience with corps goes back to our civil war. It was the corps that became the large tactical unit of maneuver, with its component Divisional units, Regimental units and Battalions making up the corps. As to the success of the 1st Infantry Divisions ability to absorb losses, but still incorporate its replacements speaks volumes to its ability to use its combat experience in a positive manner. I look forward with eagerness to having Greg and Dr. Phil on to discuss the battle for Aachen, one of the most fascinating subjects of WW2. Tre Bien Colonel Fontenot from a fellow French American!
Fantastic talk by Gregory, very captivating. Thanks Woody.
Interesting guest, very knowledgably, a treat to listen to him and his knowledge.
Gregory was just superb, depth of knowledge and experience. The question I was going to ask about the British left flank was answered to I'm a happy bunny.
Great presentation. Mr Fontenot gets my full attention in his study which was as detailed and fluent as it could be.
How crazy? I tune into WW2 T.V. and see my old Battalion Commander in Desert Storm!! I was a young E4 Medic. Glad to see you, Sir!
That is so cool!
I could have sworn I left a comment earlier. This was another excellent presentation from a knowledgeable speaker. There was a lot of information packed into the hour and a bit. I believe I have a better understanding of the conditions that allowed the eventual breakout from Normandy especially as it relates to the Big Red One.
overwhelmingly superb. thank you. proud supporter of WW2TV.
Wow! Excellent presenter! Keep up the great work Woody!
Excellent presentation by Gregory with some food for thought on the strategies V Corps would've employed in June. Delighted to hear him say that cooperation between 1st ID & 7th Armoured Div was excellent. The Allied Army boundaries are always fascinating as there are potentially a possible breakthrough point for an opposing enemy but not here. I would like to see Gregory back again.
I did make a mistake re: Coordination. 1st ID and 50th ID attacked side by side. Coordination between the two was outstanding including LNOs and contact patrols etc. US-UK made a good team.
0:18
Excellent presentation keep up the good work
Excellent presentation Woody and Gregory. Ex military officers always bring a logical perspective to any discussion. Well done.
He's to be applauded for not leaning heavily into appeals to 'doctrine' and modern jargon. His pre-breaching insight was a much more valuable perspective than hearing half a field manual - the historian was in command of the soldier!
Thanks for a great show. really enjoyed it. I believe that 2nd Panzer did not have its tanks with it when it was in the gap, only the infantry, artillery, recce and A/T guns.
On the first days certainly, but the gap remained in place for some time
An over flowing education here! @WW2TV in the side chat calls it right: "This is a masterclass" .
You are on a roll Woody!! Keep it going!! A++++
Impressive and reflective presentation, based on first hand knowledge of fighting. Pleased also to hear Gregory's regard for the work of Peter Caddick-Adams.
Yep, it was a delight to talk to him
Good show, Woody!
Thank you for asking my question - it was a bit of a cheek.
No, not at all. It was a good question. It opened up the chat with Greg
Thanks!
That would be good is seeing a map of possible extent of the bocage farm blocks
Google 'geoportail' to access IGN's (the French Ordnance Survey) website. With a bit of basic French and some inspired clicking, you can load a layer of 1950-65-ish airphoto coverage.
Hey I am a monthly member, but still donate to your channel when watching it, helping you out
Thanks very much
this is fucking great
Problem with the further we get away from the events, the more vagueness starts to creep in and equivocation starts to happen
Germany starts to be seen more as just a side of a conflict rather than an aggressor backed by an extremely unpleasant ideology.
The fact that we are even now saying that the poles and Ukraines and those Wehrmacht soldiers of the third reich were somehow not really fascists and had been persuaded against their better judgements to fight democracy just doesn’t ring true.
Yes of course the German soldiers had been subjected to deliberate propaganda since 1933 so an entire generation of young people had been indoctrinated by them to disastrous result.
But the Poles and Ukraines? Really? Weren’t they perhaps just nasty bad guys who were generally predisposed to being cruel?
If they had won, would they have eventually denounced nazism? I seriously doubt it: they would have been the foot soldiers and gaultieters of the defeated occupied territories and would have been part of the disgusting future that these people had planned for us all if they had won.
These men would have squeezed off their mg rounds into those lads coming off the landing craft for ever and a day had they had more ammo and if it had not been for the bravery and persistence of our assault. Let not this equivocation creep in.
We had to kill this nastiness by being as nasty as they were and our men had to become as bestial as our adversaries in order to achieve these goals. Turning good men into killers was just another evil consequence of the horror of their ideology.
On a broader point about humanity and war: my view is that the Second World War had to be won by the west: the ideology of nazism simply had to be crushed.
However I believe that the First World War was a travesty and a continuation - and in the end the pay back of the contempt that the ruling class held for the working men on both sides: a constant from the era of kings.
I come at this from a very young attempt to put some kind of reason for the slaughter of the First World War: from our perspective even though it was not that long ago: it seems an unfathomably cruel and pointless yet quite deliberate murder of innocent human beings
To quote(-ish) Gen E Hackman: "But what about the Germans?" In trying to explain the two world wars with cod politics, you're missing the obvious.
You started off well, but criticising on one evil ideology using the frame of reference of another is a bit of ideological hypocrisy. Most people in Europe simply didn't want to be German, especially when that point had to be made the second time. I'd say the fall of monarchies and the rise of dictators is a background thing. I'm fairly certain my grandfathers were fighting Germans, not nazis or fascists. The only people doing that were the proper reds, and most people would have struggled to get a fag paper between those factions.
Great stuff! Thanks for bringing Colonel Fontenot on to your show.